After the Battle
by Elbenstern
Summary: After the final battle at the promised day some moments went missing in both brotherhood anime and manga, so this is my attempt to fill these holes.  It is focuused on the Flame Alchemist, Colonel Roy Mustang and his first lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. Royai
1. Erblindet

_This was supposed to be a one-shot... It somehow got out of hand and grew..._

_After the final battle at the promised day some moments went missing in both brotherhood anime ad manga, so this is my attempt to fill these holes._

_It is focused on the Flame Alchemist, Colonel Roy Mustang and his first lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. Royai for all who didn't get it._

_Again, English is not my mother tongue, so I apologize for strange phrases and ask you to help me correct them._

_Also I tried to avoid any use of word the mean "to see" when writing from Roy's point of view, If you find one please tell me so I can exchange it._

_Fullmetal Alchmist is not mine, I only do fan stuff. I all belongs to Arakawa Hiromu._

_This was inspired by this fan art on deviantart:_

deviantart[dot]com/art/After-the-battle-fma-royai-163802234

**Erblindet **

Underpinned by a wall they sat back to back. Her had rested on his shoulder, his head was tipped back, blind eyes closed. Hidden under his coat their hands touched, a kind of validation for both of them. For him it meant that it was really her and that she was alive. One of the last things he had seen was her, lying in a puddle of her own blood and this picture hat burned itself into his memory.

The battle (if you want to call an fight against a single being a battle) had ended according to the shouts of triumph (as well as the fact that they were still alive) they had won. But what exactly had happened the blind Flame Alchemist did not yet know. The world which once had consisted of colours and shades was only black now. It had been a combination of sheer instinct, his own pride and the knowledge what was at stake which had made it impossible for him to give in.

But he could not fight sightless and so he had put himself, a human weapon, into the skillful hands of the hawk's eye. Her eyes navigated his flames and provided him the necessary information, in return he supported his first lieutenant by wrapping his arm around her waist, for she had lost a lot of blood.

The shouts of victory fell silent, the homunculus was defeated. Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse had reached their journey end as well, but the two individuals who had presented that path to the boys for the first time where both to exhausted to congratulate them on their sucess.

She had guided him to the wall, had made him sit down and had collapsed right next to him.

So they sat until the arrival of the rescue workers.

The silence was unbearable. Not that they ever had talked much, their exchanges always had been short and formal, colonel and lieutenant.

The true conversation was hidden, decoded in a secret language which consisted of a few well chosen words, secret glances and subtle gestures only the two of them noticed.

Words alone were empty.

It got loud around them, someone called his Name. More voices, all talking at one it seemed, then next to him the first lieutenant responded with a single word which meaning he wasn't able to gasp.

And then she was gone, so sudden as if something had ripped a rift in the matter by his side by taking her away.

He remained where he had been seated, as if he had a choice: He didn't have a clue where in the headquarters he was.

Eventually, he did not know how much time had passed, not only his sight was gone but also any kind of sense of time, he heard his name again, this time directly in front of him.

"Colonel Roy Mustang." Guessing from the way he spoke he was a soldier, probably from Briggs.

"Are you all right, Sir?"

"Given the circumstances." he heard himself say.

Again people shouted, the soldier answered and suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Come along, Sir."

He did not resist as he followed the order, although he felt more like luggage than a superior officer under the gruff guidance.

They did not go far, only a few steps across a floor littered with rubble, then a sudden weight on his shoulder told him to sit down.

He smelled mouldy cotton and impregnating agent, a smell which was familiar to him from the tents the military had used in Ishval, he was in one now he concluded.

He was left alone again, sitting on something which appeared to be a crate.

Some time later someone came who introduced himself as a doctor. He examined the Colonel's hands and tended to the wounds.

The alchemist winced when the punctures in his palms were sutured, he had not truly realized until now that Wrath had pierced his palms. It seemed minor in relation to everything else.

The doctor started to ask questions he answered mechanically.

Did he have any other injuries? No, nothing serious.

Where the Rumor true concerning his eyes? He opened them for an answer.

What had happened to them? Truth took them as a toll.

He did not recognize the doctor as Dr. Knox until he apologized for his crudeness.

He asked about the first lieutenant.

She is tended to Knox said, they would take him to her as soon as there was time. As soon as they could do without anyone, because of the rescue operations. Many were still buried under the headquarters' debris.

He left with those words and left the blind one alone again.

Roy waited. He listened to the shouting people without understanding their words and to the humming automotive engines which came and went.

Eventually someone came and gave him some water.

Again he waited with nothing to presind him from the darkness in his open eyes and the pain in his palms.

It was not until many (conjectured) hours later when when the noises died away when the noises died away consecutively. Slowly the cool of the evening came.

He was tired, hungry and cold, but he knew there were many whose conditions where far worse. At some point his exhaustion overwhelmed him and he just dozed away.

He was half asleep when he realized that soldiers were talking to him. They guided him from the out of the tent and into a car and they did so far more gentle than the Briggs soldier earlier. A few times he stumbled across for him invisible debris but each time arms came out of nowhere to catch him before he fell.

He got lost for good in the car, it could be going anywhere.

When they arrived he recognized the hospital by it's smell.

More Voices, someone touched his shoulder. Then suddenly his journey came to an end and he found himself sitting on a bed.

"First lieutenant Hawkeye?" he asked weak.

"She is right here." He recognized Fuery's voice:

"No two meters afar from you... wait a sec."

Someone, probably sergeant Fuery led him a few steps forward and placed his hand on her face.

He sensed her soft, warm skin, which was soaked in sweat. His thumb traced the line of her nose, then her eyebrow.

"She is asleep." Fuery said: "She lost a high amount of blood. We were not sure if she would make it. But in the end on of us disobeyed your order."

Carefully he moved his hand across her chin until he touched the bandage wrapped around her neck. He winced, then gulped due to the sudden pain which flashed his soul, triggered by the mere memory. But he also could feel her slow, steady pulse.

He finally allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. Terrifying fear fell off himm like a physical burden.

"Thank you. Tell the others as well."

"We are all here." He heard second lieutenant Breda's voice.

"You should rest as well." A woman said, Maria Ross he realized.

His eyes were as if on fire, suddenly resting seemed like a good idea. He stumbled back to his own bed, removed the boots eyless. He did not even notice when someone took off his tattered uniform and dressed him into an infirmary pyjama.

_(authors' comment: I sort of figured that after the battle first no one would care about the Colonel, first because of his (compared to others) minor (not life threatening) injuries and than Major General Armstrong has command..._

_So he gets Kind of forgotten, moved at some point because he is in the way and so on._

_I imagine that Major Alex L. Armstrong told Dr. Knox about Mustang being in this tent after the worst Injuries were tended to._

_About the tent... have you ever been inside an old military tent? they have this particular smell..._

_In brotherhood anime Maria Ross is seen guarding Roy's and Riza's Hospital room door, I kind of like the Idea of her (and maybe Danny Brosh as well) joining Mustang's team after the promised day, so here she is.)_


	2. Das Versprechen

_I don't own FMA, my only payment are reviews._

**Das Versprechen**

The next day just blurred away for both of them, for him sounds, odours and vague presentiments made no sense for he couldn't link the sensations. Somehow he got the impression everything was centered on him, and everyone knew everything, except for him.

He had no Idea of the time being or even how many people were around him. Sometimes he recognized one of his subordinates voices, hands that may belong to a doctor or nurse. Sometimes someone addressed directly to him, he answered them mechanically for it were always the same questions: What had happened underground on the promised day, what had happened to his eyes, what had happened to Hawkeye?

Time just melted away into one giant, faceless stream along with words, noises, the pain he felt when a needle was injected in his arm or when someone unwrapped his hands, did something to the wounds, bandaged them again.

After some time he started to sense the faint air draught whenever someone opened the door, the darkness started to assume shape.

At least one of his subordinates seemed to guard his room. He recognized them by their voices when they talked to each other at change of shifts: sergeant Fuery, 2nd lieutenant Breda, 2nd lieutenant Ross, 2nd lieutenant Catalaina.

Sometimes they spoke to him as well, trying to encourage him, but his answers where either cryptic or empty and re rarely answered at all. Most time they left him alone with his mind.

Eventually Hawkeye awakened, her voice was very weak and was drowned by others in an instant.

"Colonel...!" she managed faintly.

"I am right here, 1st lieutenant." He said, suddenly pulled out of his stream of thoughts into the amaurotic reality.

"You are really... I wish there was something I could have done..."

He could not remember her voice ever being so frail.

"There is nothing you did wrong, nothing you could have done." He reassured her, but got no answer.

"Hawkeye!" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

"She has fallen asleep again." an unknown voice said:

"It will take time for her to recover. It's a miracle that she was able to survive a wound like this at all."

_A miracle_ he thought, _xingese alkahestry. Equivalent exchange._ It gave her live, it took his light. It didn't make any sense to him, there was nothing equal in this matter.

But he didn't even knew if hours or days had passed.

She woke up again later, longer this time, talked to him with that fragile voice.

She wasn't able to stay awake for more than a few minutes at first, but this time span exceeded quickly.

They did not talk much, for he did not hnow what to say to her. The details regarding the promised day and the battle itself seemed unimportant, everything else out of reach.

_I am sorry! There is nothing you could have done. Nothing you've done wrong!_

There wasn't much more to say.

At some point he just went silent and got lost in his own mind once more.

She sat reclined in her in infirmary bed, still weakened by the loss of blood. It was late and they were alone, but she knew there was a guard just outside the door.

The Colonel sat on his bed right next to hers, the unseeing eyes fixed on something not available, as if he desperately searched for a light.

It was black outside.

"Lieutenant," he finally approached her: Are the lights on or is it dark?"

"They're on, Sir" she answered but regretted it instantly.

She slid off her bed and turned it off.

"Not any more."

_We are equal in the darkness. _

"What do you see?" He wanted to know.

"It's dark, Sir" She almost said, but interrupted herself.

"It's not pitch black." She said instead: "The light of the street lamps allows me to see things in the room ans shades of black and grey. I can see the street as well, a man is walking there right now with his dog. The nearest gas lantern seems to brush the asphalt with it's light.

She let her gaze pan and continued: "I can also see the block of houses' skyline because the HQ is right behind it and it's illuminated as usual. Even from this distance you can see the damage..."

"it it raining, isn't it?" he interrupted her.

She watched the raindrops dripping against the window glass, drained in golden light, for a moment.

"Yes, it is raining, Sir."

She overcame the few metres that separated them, reached out towards his silhouette. Her hand found his face, it was wet.

"Colonel..." She startet, but then, suddenly, she realized.

It was her part to vanquish this silence of darkness.

Uncertainty came, creeping, she knew exactly which words were to be chosen, wich glance would make him understand the meaning behind the words, but when she touched his blind tears she also knew that he was not able to understand and speak that language any more.

And phoneme by phoneme, as if she really was translating it to another language she found words to phrase that hidden message.

She leaned towards him until her lips almost touched his ear.

"Roy" she whispered, so vague that even someone right next to them couldn't have understood anything:

"Don't give up just because it's dark. Believe in yourself and other will believe in you as well. If you don't loose your determination, if you don't give in to desperation you can reach your goal even now. And concerning your sight, let me be your eyes. I won't ever leave you alone."

There was silence at first for he needed to find phrases the same way she did, but then he whispered back:

"You're right. Thank you!"

His hand searched for his face as well, the rough-textured bandage touched her face, he could feel his skin contact hers.

"You are smiling." He aspirated: "After all this you are still able to smile. Thank you."

And he smiled as well.

She enjoyed their closeness, his warmth, and tried to give back some feeling of security in his blackness at the same time, something to grab an hold on. Someone. He eased off a little, let himself being swept off in her embrace, warily at first but then he finally relaxed, hushed all his tension.

She fondled his messy hair, he buried his face in hers, while trying out their new found language further, whispering.

She stayed with him until he had fallen asleep, then she returned to her own cold bed.

_(comment: They are moments in life where everything you once believed in seems to crumble and you just need someone to hold you tight. After the battle Roy and Riza are both under shock and so they do not realize everything that happens around them. With his eyes taken Roy cannot see his queen any longer, and he just has to witch to other senses, and she as his guardian feels like she failed him for not being able to prevent him from being dragged into the gate._

_It came out terribly fluffy. I hope you like it anyway)_


End file.
